Quite a problem
by rizumamu
Summary: Davide has a problem and asks Kurobane to help him. PG-13 for language, other than that G. FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

It happened so suddenly. Completely out of the blue and therefore Kurobane didn't know how to react at all.

"Bane-san, I have a problem," Davide had said to him just a while ago. "Will you help me?"

"A problem? What kind of a problem is it?" Kurobane had said rather nonchalantly knowing Davide's problems weren't that mediocre and thus he couldn't have ever expected the reply he got.

"Bane-san..." Davide had hesitated. "I know for sure that I've fallen in love with a guy."

At that point Kurobane had been shocked enough but there was yet more to come.

"And I really want to get laid with him..." Davide had added with a quieter voice.

Within Kurobane's head the word _"WHAT" _had echoed loudly and he would have wanted to shout it out loud, but that would have been too rude. Especially when the look on Davide's face had been so very serious and his eyes had showed that this time he wasn't kidding.

Right now Kurobane would have wanted to ask about a hundred different questions but he did his best and refrained from asking any one of them.

"So you understand it's a problem," Davide said when Kurobane hadn't said anything to him.

"Well... Yes," Kurobane said eventually and gradually began to wonder if Davide had meant him. No matter how close they were to each other, Davide was more like a little brother to him than... Something like a lover. Now that would certainly be a problem. Or at least become one sooner or later.

"Bane-san, what should I do? My feelings..." Davide put his right hand on his chest, somewhere near where his heart was. "They're for real."

Because for once Davide wasn't telling his stupid puns, Kurobane obviously couldn't kick him this time even though he truly felt like doing it anyway.

"Let me think," Kurobane said since it was what he really needed to do.

First of all he didn't want to ask who it was, that was Davide's own business. Of course Davide had been a close friend of his ever since they were little, but when he was saying such things with such a look on his face, it certainly was frightening. They hadn't even talked about love and sex before, at least not like this. Because right now, furthermore, Davide was seriously claiming that he was gay. Not that Kurobane had anything against it. But even so he had to admit it to himself that it was quite an awkward thing from his point of view.

What if it really had been him that Davide had loved for all the years that they had spent together, but he just hadn't dared to say or do anything about it? After all they had told each other a plenty of times that they liked each other, and at the end of the day Kurobane would have done anything to make Davide happy. But what if Davide was his boyfriend and they would start going on dates, holding hands, kissing, and go all the way to sleeping together...? And even then the redhead would be coming up with puns all the time and Kurobane would kick him in the head over and over again.

Could such a thing happen, really? At least there was no way that Davide could have appreciated all those times that Kurobane had kicked him. It was truly hard to tell, and what Davide had already said was definitely enough information for one time. Now it would be best just stick to the truth, no matter how things would turn out in the end.

"Davide, if your heart desires that guy with all its might, then it might be reasonable to tell him about it," Kurobane started as sincerely as he could. "But there's one thing you ought to know."

"Bane-san, you're amazing," Davide said listening to him attentively and nodded a little with a serious look on his face.

"Don't interrupt me now," Kurobane said looking at the redhead sulkily.

"But you just told a wonderful pun!" Davide rejoiced smilingly. "May I use it some time?"

"Davide, will you just shut up when there's something more important to talk about right now? Or else I'm not giving you any advice," Kurobane grunted glaring at Davide.

"Oh... Okay, sorry," the redhead apologized pouting a little.

"Listen to me carefully now, this's really an important thing. When you confess your feelings to that guy, absolutely _NO_ puns are allowed that time," Kurobane added in earnest. "Otherwise he'll never take you seriously, believe me."

"Yep," Davide said and nodded again.

"And it might be better that you don't say anything like _'I wanna get laid with you'_ 'cause that's also bad," Kurobane said turning his head a little to look at something else than Davide. Saying something like that was undoubtedly embarrassing.

"I knew you'd help me, Bane-san," Davide said and when Kurobane turned to look at him again, there was a big grin on his face. And he couldn't help but feel that he might have just had the kind of a conversation with Davide that meant the beginning of an end of something. But whatever was going to happen, Kurobane hoped silently deep within himself that Davide wouldn't make a complete fool of himself. If his confession wouldn't go well and Davide would become dreary after getting the brush-off, it would break two hearts at the same time.

But he stopped thinking about it as soon as he noticed that Davide had begun to repeat "thank you" in English and didn't seem to stop at all.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kurobane asked staring at the senseless redhead.

"Now I lost count!" Davide yelled disappointedly but began to repeat "thank you" again.

"That's enough already," Kurobane said and was ready to give Davide a kick in the head.

"39 times thank you," Davide chuckled and then there was no way to avoid the kick anymore.

...to be continued...

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

Note from author:

Bane-san's pun was completely unintentional and I didn't write it purposely! I didn't even notice it at first, damn... I fail.

The Japanese pronounce "thank you" as "sankyuu" which is "san" and "kyuu", 3 and 9. On the other hand, 39, thirty nine, in Japanese is "sanjuukyuu". Yes, I fail again.


	2. Chapter 2

**QUITE A PROBLEM part 2**

When Davide had left to go back to his own pad, Kurobane couldn't stop thinking about what his friend had told him. And for a long time it was everything he could think about. What if Davide really loved him? And if it wasn't him after all, was it someone else who had gone to Rokkaku? At the moment all of their closest friends from Rokkaku were either working or going to different universities. Also, the plain thought of Davide loving some guy and wanting to have sex with him was inexplicably embarrassing. Had it been about a girl, Kurobane's feelings and thoughts would have been completely different, much more encouraging than they were at the moment. Now he just didn't know what was going to happen to him and to his relationship with Davide.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

Almost a month had passed by but Davide hadn't said another thing about the guy he was in love with. Neither did he confess to Kurobane which made him think it had to be someone else. Or, knowing Davide, he just might have had to think about his words precisely and even practice them beforehand not to blurt out a single pun. What a complicated guy he was!

Then there was a mail from Davide that said, _Bane-san, I need to talk to you_. Chills ran down Kurobane's spine when he read the message. Was this going to be it? Nevertheless, he agreed to meet Davide on the very same day.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

"So what is it?" Kurobane asked rather warily when they were drinking tea in his room.

"I wanted to thank you personally," Davide said gleefully, a special sparkle in his eyes.

"Oh, why's that?" Kurobane asked and stuffed a couple of chocolates into his mouth. Since Davide was always carrying them with him, he had offered some to him as well.

There was a brief silence and when Kurobane turned to look at his friend, he noticed the light blush on his cheeks. Did he have a reason to feel embarrassed or what was all that about?

"I confessed and… We're dating now," Davide replied eventually and smiled uninhibitedly.

"Oh," was everything Kurobane could come up with. Yet another unexpected thing. But it was kind of good to hear that it had gone so well in the end.

"Date after date we date," Davide added and chuckled. "Up to date and from now on I won't be dateless."

"Shut up already!" Kurobane grunted and was about to get up to kick Davide, but didn't bother after all. If that was what their dates were filled with, Kurobane felt somewhat sorry for the guy, whoever he was. "Anyway, congratulations then."

Davide just smiled and nodded as he munched his chocolates.

"Just let me say something here," Kurobane continued, rubbing the back of his head. "I can't help but wonder what kind of a superman you've found. 'Cause he just has to be if you keep up with those puns like you've done so far."

"Perhaps he is," Davide spoke again frowning a little. "I haven't asked him but he's a man as well as super so it wouldn't be supernatural at all if he truly…"

"Oh, just stop it already!" Kurobane yelled, this time slapping Davide on top of his head with his hand.

"Ouch!" Davide screamed at once but was still grinning widely.

"Damn," Kurobane swore and stared at his friend. "I think I shouldn't ask this but I can't help it anymore. Who is that guy who's actually willing to listen to your stupid puns?"

"Bane-san, that's too mean!" Davide complained and the grin on his face turned into a grimace. "But… You know him already. Or at least you've met him before."

"Huh?" Now Kurobane was even more surprised. But what Davide had just said also made him even more curious.

"It's been a while, though. I'm not sure if you've seen him since that one time when you and rest of the lot came to see Rokkaku playing against Seigaku. It was back then when Kentarou was still buchou and I was his fukubuchou," Davide mused the past tousling his red locks with his right hand.

"That was like ages ago," Kurobane admitted trying to think just how many years had already passed by. "But do you mean that… It's someone from Seigaku?!" That was quite a shocking realization if it really was the truth.

"Yes," Davide replied immediately.

That was definitely something Kurobane couldn't have expected to hear. Someone from Seigaku's tennis team, who could that have been? Most of the old team members had already graduated by then just like Kurobane himself had, being a third year, so who exactly had been a part of Seigaku's team that year? For some reason he couldn't remember anymore.

"Is that so," he said eventually with suspicion.

"Ever since the viper wiped the floor with me, or should I say the court, I've been interested in him," Davide explained in his personal way and chuckled.

"Am I supposed to understand what you're saying?" Kurobane sighed and noticed that Davide had taken his wallet from his pocket.

"Last weekend during our date we went to purikura, look," Davide urged taking out a picture from his wallet.

When Kurobane saw the two of them in the picture, he wasn't sure what he should have thought right then. Yes, he recognized the other guy even though he wasn't wearing a bandana. It was the guy who had beaten both, Rokkaku tennis team's buchou and fukubuchou in two successive years, with his different versions of his special shot called the snake. But why Kaidou Kaoru, that Kurobane couldn't understand at all. At least from his point of view there didn't seem to be anything exceptional about him, except his absurd stamina. Was that what Davide was so drawn to? Somehow Kurobane wasn't ready to accept such a reason, there must have been something else, something different, but what on earth, really?

"Yes, Bane-san, I can see the question all over your face so you don't have to ask," Davide said before Kurobane had even tried to open his mouth. "Even though he was the one who knocked our team out of the finals back in junior high, he still managed to knock me off my feet as well."

"Davide, _YOU KNOCK IT OFF!_" Kurobane growled irritatingly but offered the picture back to the redhead as calmly as he could.

"But Bane-san, it's the truth!" Davide grumbled taking the picture in his hand and looked at it. "I was so exhausted after the long match with Kaidou that I fell on the ground when he happened to bump into me afterwards outside the courts. He had been jogging like he always does after he's finished a match, and for some reason he didn't notice me before I was already lying on the ground."

"You've never told me about that," Kurobane remarked raising his other eyebrow.

"True. But I never forgot his kindness, the tone of his voice and the faint smile that he suddenly conjured up on his face back then. When he realized what had happened, he firstly crouched beside me, asked me if I was okay and apologized to me somewhat sheepishly. Seeing him like that I thought he was really cute, nothing like he had been only a while ago on the opposite side of the court," Davide explained candidly. "And when he all of a sudden appeared in front of me in the campus area earlier this year, I noticed… That it's love."

"Well, isn't that great for you then," Kurobane said smiling sincerely now. "And you two look… Ummm, kinda cute together."

"I'm happy to hear that from you, Bane-san." Davide returned the smile with a broad smile. "Even though Kaidou can actually be much cuter than he is in this picture…"

"Why am I amused when I hear you telling me that…" Kurobane said shaking his head. "But well, I suppose he truly is the kind of guy who can withstand anything." _Including you_, Kurobane thought to himself but decided not to say it out loud.

"Bane-san, I'm not going to let you say terrible things about my boyfriend!" Davide screamed glaring at him.

"Fine, and I didn't really mean it like that. Kaidou's one heck of a guy, but even so…" Kurobane wasn't certain if he could bring that other topic up.

"Go ahead and say it, Bane-san. Otherwise it will bother me, too," Davide pointed out putting the picture and his wallet back into his pocket.

"Well, you know…" Kurobane couldn't help but blush a little. He wasn't used to these kinds of things at all. Not even though it was Davide, one of his closest friends. Or perhaps that was the exact reason.

"Just say it," Davide urged calmly.

"Anyway… So you two have been dating and the guy's your boyfriend but like… Is he gay, too? Are you really gonna… Or have you done it already?" That was the only way that Kurobane could put it. He wasn't going to "getting laid" or even "sex". The mere thought was too terrifying but since Davide had mentioned it himself earlier… And by then Kurobane's face might have been almost redder than their old tracksuit.

"It's kind of intimate, Bane-san," Davide remarked but didn't seem to be too bothered at all. "Ummm… You know… We're guys and quite virile so… I'm sure that we will virtually but also virtuously lose our virginity together."

"Aaah, just forget I ever asked!" Kurobane yelled jumping up and kicking Davide for the first time that day. "But at least you seem to have a lot of confidence. I wonder if it's enough."

Since Davide was still suffering from the kick, all Kurobane got as a reply was a smug grin. At the end of the day, that was how the redhead should have been. Even if he had claimed to be gay and loved someone like Kaidou, it didn't matter to Kurobane as long as Davide was happy and was his close friend like they had been for years.

"You know, now that I think of it I'm kinda jealous," Kurobane admitted after a moment of silence.

"Huh, really? Well, Kaidou really is something different and special…"

"Idiot. That's not what I meant! I mean the fact that you're going out with someone, dating and stuff. To find such a person that you're destined to be with, that certainly is something," Kurobane explained his thoughts.

"Bane-san?"

"Huh, what?"

"Are you gay?"

Of course the question surprised him and Kurobane was ready to give Davide another rebuke, but then he noticed the look on his face and thus backed off.

"What kind of a question is that anyway?"

"Bane-san, it means two things!" Davide said rather ardently. "Kaidou told me so… His English skills are amazing."

"So what? He's teaching you how to come up with even more puns? Oh damn it…" Now Kurobane was beginning to feel quite depressed.

"Not really. But I'd say I'm gay in both of its meanings. So I began to wonder about you, Bane-san," Davide explained but it was still quite difficult for Kurobane to understand what he was talking about. "And I'm especially gay because of Kaidou."

"And it doesn't seem to bother you at all," Kurobane teased him.

"Of course not. Because gay means also merry and cheerful and such things," Davide smiled. "Because of meeting Kaidou I'm all that right now."

"Okay. But it might be better if you didn't go and shout it out loud that you're gay. People here in Japan are more aware of the other meaning," Kurobane warned cautiously because the state that Davide was in at the moment, he might have done highly irrational things.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

In the end Davide had just rushed to meet his boyfriend who had sent him a mail to his cell phone and challenged him to go for an evening jog together. And thus he had left, very gaily, as he had put it himself. At least it seemed like the redhead had made sure that Kurobane wouldn't be bored any time soon - even though there might be tons of bad puns to hear but then Kurobane would simply go with the flow just like he always had. Yes, Davide would always be his best friend, his other little brother.

-the end-

* * *

Note from author:

I was meant to post this a long time ago but stuff happened, damn. But finally I managed to write the ending and post it, woohoo. So that's how it went in the end. _sweatdrop_


End file.
